Leeds United will clash with Norwich City on Tuesday, but regardless of the result, they’ll need to put this contest behind them quickly. On Friday, Daniel Farke and his team will take on Sunderland, who are a direct promotion rival.
While the contest is still a few days away, the Black Cats will be without two key players as the two sides attempt to overcome the injuries to key players. On the Leeds side, their list of absent players continues to grow as injuries test their depth.
Ethan Ampadu, Manor Solomon, Dan James, and Max Wober are all on the sidelines for Leeds. The Whites will attempt to navigate a crucial week without these key players.
Leeds avoided the worst possible scenario with Ampadu, which would have been an ACL injury that could have ended his 2024-25 season. The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Joe Donnohue relayed the information that Ampadu suffered an injury to the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and not the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
“To be clear, Ethan Ampadu’s knee injury is to the lateral collateral ligament (LCL), not anterior cruciate ligament (ACL),” Donnohue wrote Monday on X. “They are different things. Grade 2 LCL recovery between 8-12 weeks, which chimes with Farke’s estimate he will return to team training in 10.”
Sunderland will miss two key players for Leeds clash
While the Yorkshire side need to navigate key injuries, so will Sunderland as manager Régis Le Bris has already confirmed that two players are set to miss the Leeds contest.
Le Bris notes that Eliezer Mayenda and Dan Ballard are still out due to injury, making it unlikely that they will play against Leeds.
“Alan Browne will be available, but Eliezer and Dan aren’t,” Le Bris said (h/t Sunderland Echo). “We think that they will probably be back after the international break.”
Mayenda is dealing with a minor muscle issue, and Ballard is still recovering from an ankle injury he sustained late in the loss to Plymouth Argyle.
Evening though Aaron Connolly is impressing the manager since joining the Black Cats as a free agent last week, he is unlikely to rush him into the squad before the international break, even with Mayenda’s injury.
